CNN BREAKING NEWS

U.S. MC-130 Aircraft Crashes in Afghanistan

Aired June 12, 2002 - 15:47 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: New developments now on that breaking news story that we have been talking about for the past half an hour: the U.S. MC-130 special operations aircraft crashing on takeoff in Afghanistan.

Our CNN correspondent Jamie McIntyre has been following this story and brings new details to us now -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the U.S. Central Command, which has responsibility for that area, has issued its first statement about the crash that we first reported about an hour ago.

It says, at approximately 1:00 Eastern time, this U.S. Air Force AC-130 -- MC-130, rather, crashed on takeoff from an area called Bande Sardeh Dam in Afghanistan. Ten people were aboard the aircraft. Search-and-rescue forces are now at the crash site. Pentagon sources tell us that there are -- at least according to the initial reports -- some survivors from this crash.

The cause of the crash is not known at this time, although it does not appear to be the result of hostile fire. The names and service members are being withheld until they have notified next of kin. So, that isn't a good indication. We're told that there were seven crew members and three passengers on board for a total of 10 people on board this plane. Apparently, of course, there have been some casualties. We don't know how many deaths, how many injuries.

There are some initial reports that some of the 10 service members did survive the crash of this airplane, at least initially -- so, again, no indication of hostile fire. An MC-130 is a special operations version of the C-130 cargo plane. It's usually used to transport special operations troops -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jamie McIntyre, live from the Pentagon there, thanks for the update on that story.

We will continue to follow this breaking news story as Jamie gets more information.

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